Grapple



Oct. 7, 1952 Filed Aug. 23, 1949 H. K. BUSHNELL, JR

GRAPPLE 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTO HORACE K Bus/WELL, .1

ATTORNEY Oct. 7, 1952 Filed Aug. 23, 1949 H. K. BUSHNELL, JR

GRAPPLE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 HORACE K. e g/$2M, Jr. j @M ATTORNEY Oct. 7, 1952 BUSHNELL, JR 2,613,103

GRAPPLE Filed Aug. 23, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG. 4

FIG. 5

INVENTOR HORACE K. BUSHNELL, Jr: jfl (9K ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 7, 1952 UNITE-1D aerams a QRAPBLE- 9m -I .,7Ell.!ll ag. lie- Animation Anguilla 9.4 Se al Nd 1 13250 1 j i ma n (01,. 1 a tfiranted aim w ol-'-March 3, rees, as

This invention relates to article handling 'rievices and more particularly to carriers on handl-ing and transporting elongated cylindricai-objects such as tubes, tanks, projectile; and the like.

unwieldy and cumbersome to handle and hence may easily *be dropped with consequent damage to the article and possible *tothe handler.

This is particularly true in'the hand-linger loaded projectiles.

' In the firing of guns of medium and large caliber, a steady supply of- "ammunition is: er dinarily provided by ammunition handlers who manually, or with the aid-of a hpist pjck up the ammunition andblaceit-i-n-the gun-worm a trans,- fer tray for trans'riortation to the gun. Phi s-1 n -ust be done-quicklyin order to -rnaintain fire power and also must beperformedsafelysince one slip might spell disaster for the entire gun crew. j'ihe lifting and moving operation is of course fatig uing which in turn-increases the hazard. Some times an article-must be handled *bvmean s' of' a crane. ThiSjiS'85PBQi32HY'tIQG aboardship. 'When such is "the case, it isncessary that the-handler be able accurately and easily to guide the -projectile or other objectpreierabl-y with one hand and without danger of the article slipping orbeingaccidental-ly released from thenarryin gdevice.

n lmt is an b ect oi' hepr ent vention toprovide a carrier for elongated cylindrical' objects w ich is sat conxen satapcllma q i b a plied 1'00. and m.Qv 1mm an object.

Another object is to provide a vcarrieryoi the above type whichis simple ,in des'ign,, sturdy in c nstruc nd am-m nimum n mber o m ts- Still anotherobject of thisrinventiprr is-totmlovide a. carrier of the above.. tyge--which .aitords a substantial degreeof; protectiongt the.obiect 'be- I a ing carried.

A further objectofthis invention is [to provide a carrier which may, readily be use, tion with a crane by which the c v n ly be u dedn oa-dasite rna out n er of e-a ic es ipping-m ;m 31.??-

Other objects and advantages svi; become apr n ur ng:thec nrse tthaicll iesidescrmr o t k n in 0.0 15 flan-with:tlimaccpmmnxnsv rewiassin wh Fig. Lisa perspective;viewtofwonelembodiment of the present invention showingstheamannen of its use in handlinga projectile incontiunction with a hoisting hoolcy 2 5 1s imsmmhw 'eai rstdside c l a- Articles of the atommentioned class are often an 5., pec sl '13:. an at eas s Man ob e t ef e mat rialism .1 are .t ri a the c ntral o nts 6f e emb imen andLeaclrtachelementnetiasi m ralt er r with a rearwardly extending arm 8 at the end of eac 91' w i h an niaraaci lans a to et less an. ar icle. be nacar' adel m ntslfi and r pr ferabl s fli ieat lengt o that weathe w th in. rea rrarqly fiii findln arm a ma or p rtion at the hasiv 9f. theqbi q arr ed w e prot cted-t flleas lo the Jews a suitable. shackle 'l-t'sn lunl n hantom. i 1, ay t e amine. i desir d: to Welsh taui l l ne an' e ur d order at iheearrie a d. it ea ay be gu de 9. sensati ns, nclined surface.

As hqwn n. Fi -i5 the Jews are. :binsedireoanectedby means of a pinti'e Wegtend' g through a dg I l n I2 in e tal ith.fil iQ s Ne limit stops such as rextens i onsd' ii nd on t v e f d tens ons ii easi fibnfsliqse With t ia spac s. the pe ator. may q viandzeas lr en a arti le-to be li ed y owerin t a e ve the a t c ther y spreading the jaws sufiicientl-y to" engage thesaid article belowits greatest diameterj Integralwith thetop of jaw elernent .6 is a h nd e i ii ms the arrier"endi isi qad- A forwardly extending portion 8, which maybe integral wit-h the handle I has illustrated in F g; 1 dsrigidlyattached to-jaw elernentt and an agerr m r i 'ininort qn.item ce r *hoist hook asindipated *Ifh e anerture l fl is prefe a y so 'i a ed wit .retee i to. t i en st ,Q gr'a'fvity of' the combined carrier and load that the lifting forceappli ed by the hooigisgfqrward sm i rev t o tin shied-.ihnstiltin 1 1. "carrier a wardlrt as itena iite se tin r-t e dy u a he n qie tils 2. i ;n -the inturned flanges '9. "Spaced arms J20, rigidly mounted on the upper surgagg law fi e xtend ator so that the tip 23 can be moved out of i..

contact with the lug 24. It will be seen that with the above construction the jaw 6; handle I1, and the spaced arms are integral and jaw ,1, may be swung with respect to jaw 6; hence, the trigger 22 by engagement with lug 24 on jaw I will main tain it locked in a closed position when an article is grasped. 4

, gagement, with the object tobe carried, a lug on vtheisecond of said jawsagainst which the latch is resiliently urged to maintain the gripping jaws in article gripping position, a guard to prevent accidental release of the latch said latch having amanually engageable portion whereby it can be manually moved against the resilient pressure from contact with the said lug so that the said l-lgripping jaws'c'an open to engage or disengage hinged..elongatedprojectile engaging jaws, in-

In order to prevent the trigger 22 frond being I accidentally moved to'release jaw i when an object is being carried, a guard housing 21, is attached to the handle I! which effectively pro tects the said trigger yet permitsthe operator to manipulate it when necessary. The operation of the carrier is as follows; with a cylindrical object, such as the projectile 28 shown, lying on its side, the operator grasps the carrier by handle 11. andholding'ithorizontally above the object, lowers it into contact therewith with the edges of the jaws resting on the upper surface of the object. He then manipulates the trigger 22 against thepiessiirejof spring which moves tip 23'out ofthe pathof lug 2 4, and permits the jaws to spread when a downward pressure is applied, .1. i" f a After the jaws embrace the article, the trigger 22 is released permittingj'spring 25 to move the trigger tip 23 towards thelug 2i. As the tip 23 moves across the surface of jaw 1' it hasthel'effec't,

of camming jaw'l into close engagementwith the article to be lifted until 111% 24, is reached. The operator may now lift the article manually or by means 'of a hoist hook engaged in the aperture [9 located forwardly of the handle H. The.

weight of the lifted article tends to spread the jaws, however lug 24 prevents such spreading movement and the jaws are effectively and positively held closed.[ 1 I i "i 'l When the operator wishes to release the article, trigger 22 is moved against the spring 25. r This permits the jaws to spread as the carrier. is lifted so as to permit the carrier to be completely. disengaged. The jaws of the empty carrier close only to the extent permitted by the stops I3 and M on the gudgeon l2 and stops l5 andlB onthe parts shown anddescribed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Hence, it should be understood that the invention need not be confined to the exact construction and arrangement of, parts shown .and described. V f

The invention describedherein may be manufactured and usedby or for .theGovernment of the United States of America for governmental thereon or "therefor, What is claimed is:'

purposes without the payment of any royalties .turnedflanges on the rearward end of said projectile engaging jaws to prevent lengthwise sliding of the projectile in the carrier when it is handled inarearwardly tilted position, a handle mounted. on one ofthe jaws for lifting and transporting the-carrier, and an upwardly extending portion containing an aperture adapted to receive a hoist hook mounted forward of and in the same plane as said handle, said aperture being forward of the center of gravity of a projectile so that when, the carrier containing a projectile is lifted by a hoist hook engaged in said aperture the carrier will be rearwardly tilted and the projectilewill abut on the aforesaid inturned flanges and bethereby prevented from sliding rearwardly h car e Y 3. A carrier for cylindrical objects comprising a pair of hinged arcuate gripping arms, a locking lever, mounted on one, of them for closing the said arms inartlcle gripping position, an upwardly extending lug on the second arm against whichthe locking lever is resiliently urged to maintain the arms in an article gripping position, inturned flanges on therear end of the arms against which the cylindrical object abuts, and shacklesmounted on the forward ends of the gripping arms to which flexible hoisting elements may be attached in order to raise or lower the carrier and its load in a .vertical position.

, fl, A carrier comprising a pair'of spaced opposed article gripping jaws formed to embrace an article, said jaws being hingedly secured together alongadjacen t sides, a handle fixed to one of said'jaws, a, trigger mounted on the jaw adjacent the 'handleand a lug on the other jaw and 'engag'eable by the trigger whereby the jaws may be locked together by a hand which is grasping the handle. i v

5. A carrier'co-rnprising a pair of spaced opposed articlegripping jaws formed to embrace an article, said jaws being hingedlysecured together along'adjac'ent sides,'a handle connected to the jaws adjacent the hinged connection, a finger operated latch adjacent said handle, and acam surface on one of" said jaws which is engageable by the latch jt'o lock. the jaws in article gripping-position. i

' S'I'Aca'rrier comprising a pair of spaced opposed articlegripping jaws formed to embrace 'an article, said jaws'being hingedly secured tobeing hingedly secured together along adjacent sides, a latch pivotally mounted on one of said jaws and resiliently urged against the other jaw for moving it to article gripping position, and means for releasably and positively locking said jaws in article gripping position.

8. A carrier for cylindrical objects comprising a pair of gripping jaws, said jaws being hingedly secured together along adjacent sides, a releasable latch pivotally mounted on one of said jaws and bearing on the other of said jaws, resilient. means urging said latch against said second jaw to move it to article gripping position, and a lug on said second jaw to provide an abutment for said latch for locking said jaws in articl gripping position.

9. A carrier for cylindrical objects comprising a pair of gripping jaws, said jaws being hingedly secured together along adjacent sides, a handle mounted on said jaws, resilient means urging said jaws to article gripping position, means for locking said jaws in article gripping position, and trigger means for simultaneously releasing said locking means and removing the force of said resilient means to enable said jaws to swing freely with respect to each other to engage or disengage an article.

HORACE K. BUSHNELL, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Dec. 8, 1911 

